Nushrat Rahman
Detroit Free Press
Starting Monday, Michigan renters in need and landlords can start applying for federal rent dollars that are part of a COVID-19 relief bill that Congress passed in December.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday signed legislation allocating $282 million in federal rent aid the state Legislature approved. Of that, about $220 million is for emergency rent assistance and another $62 million is for administrative costs associated with the state s new rent aid program called the COVID Emergency Rental Assistance, or CERA.
In all, Congress approved $660 million in rent aid for Michigan. The rest of the money must be allocated in subsequent legislation. GOP leaders have said they are allocating the money incrementally to ensure oversight and accountability.
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Michigan is set to receive $622,794,676 from the federal government for emergency rent and utility payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The House Appropriations Committee doesn t want to give the Michigan State Housing and Development Authority that money all at once: it wants to distribute it in installments.
The proposed plan would allocate $165,226,700 to MSHDA immediately, and the rest would be distributed over the course of the year. House Appropriations Chair Thomas Albert (R-Lowell) says this is simply to ensure accountability and transparency in the process.
Kelly Rose is the chief housing solutions officer at MSHDA. She says that if they received the full sum right from the get-go, they would be able to focus more on program delivery.
Michigan renters and landlords who are eligible for federal rental assistance are waiting for the state Legislature to allocate federal dollars intended to help Michiganders stay in their homes.
Renters are caught between the end of federal rental assistance that ran through December, and federal new assistance, totaling more than $622 million, that will become available after the Legislature distributes it.
Meanwhile, Michigan Republicans say they plan to distribute the new federal aid in installments, starting with $165 million, about a quarter of the rental assistance that Congress has earmarked to help Michiganders stay in their homes.
“The Michigan House is already taking steps to approve this rent payment assistance as part of our COVID-19 recovery plan. Measures that include a portion of this funding will be discussed and possibly voted on in the House Appropriations Committee this week, House Appropriations Chair Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, said in a statement Monda
Michigan communities prepare for annual count of homeless population
Jason Walsh/FOX 17
While the city of Grand Rapids is clearing out homeless encampments, the city of Kalamazoo is taking a different approach.
and last updated 2021-01-26 10:14:14-05
LANSING, Mich. â Michigan communities will participate on Wednesday in an annual event to produce a snapshot of the number of people experiencing homelessness during the coldest month of the year.
The Point-in-Time count takes place on the last Wednesday of January and is required for homelessness programs that are funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to a news release Tuesday.